SG Biofuels: “The conventional wisdom about jatropha is wrong” as cold-tolerant species appear, new agronomy practices take hold

In California, new details were disclosed by SG Biofuels on their discovery of cold-tolerant jatropha varietals. The company said that, conservatively, the discovery of varietals in Central America, after suitable testing and cross-breeding, could open up the US Gulf Coast for jatropha cultivation. The region has not been considered suitable for jatropha, except in southern Florida, because of winter frost conditions unsuitable to previously known varietals.

“The conventional wisdom about jatropha is wrong,” said Kirk Haney, CEO of SG Biofuels, which has established a leadership position in jatropha development through efforts such as the assembly of more than 5,000 jatropha samples from around the world. The company recently announced the  accession of cold-tolerant varietals discovered in Central America at elevations of up to 6,000 feet.

“Jatropha really got underway in the past five years, and the promise got distorted,” said Haney, reflecting on disappointing yields around the world at high-profile companies such as D1 Oils Fuel Crops.  “The best test results became the norms. Realistic jatropha yields will be in the 200-300 gallons per acre range with well managed farms.” Asked about yields discussed elsewhere of up to 800 gallons per acre? “Not today.”

“Every time I meet a jatropha developer” reflected Haney, “I ask them what strains they are using. 9 out of 10 will say “jatropha curcus” [instead of mentioning a specific strain]. In some cases, they don’t know.”

Asked about he long-term outlook for jatropha, Haney noted that “it takes twice as long to obtain seed from a new jatropha planting than from maize, and there are thousands of years of history in developing maize. “it takes five years to hit the peak with jatropha, but it does flower and develop faster than many tree species. But if you go down the same road as everyone else, thinking you can just put it in the ground and make oil you’ll fall off the same cliff. For example, if you are putting in 2500 plants per hectare, there are going to be problems later when you want to do mechanical harvesting. 2000 plants per hectare is more realistic for the harvetisng and pruning techniques that will emerge.”

“But I will say this,” predicted Haney. “When rubber trees first came under intensive management, some people said the yields couldn’t be transformed, yet they improved 400 percent within 15 years. With the right approach, you can turn an industry – and this industry — upside down.”

Dr. Bob Schmidt of the University of California at San Diego, which is collaborating with SG in assembling a jatropha collection, said that the typical range for jatropha (30 degrees north to 35 degrees south) could be extended by the new discoveries.

Schmidt noted that the varietals have not been adequately tested for seed yields, but did say that quick visual inspection did not indicate that yields would necessarily be lower for the cold-tolerant jatropha trees. He said that the combined SG-UCSD team had made 5500 wild accessions of jatropha, concentrating on Central America, the center of origin for the tree, where “nature has had the time to test the plant, and you have the fullest spectrum of genetic diversity.”

Schmidt noted a recent study which found that jatropha trees used 20,000 gallons of water for every gallon of biodiesel produced. “It was a valuable study,” he said, “but it was unfortunate that they included jatropha. The frame for the study was 1997-2001, and comparable data was not there for jatropha that was available for soybean or other crops. Jatropha didn’t have the development then – still just starting its development now, that would make the data of feedstocks more comparable.”

What’s next for jatropha? Both D1 Oils Plant Science and SG are cautionary, looking at long-term development of the one-time “wonder crop”. Both have said that the long-term leaders will be those companies that are at the forefront of genetic improvement.

“We need to look at jatropha differently,” mused Haney. “Not this tight box that we see it in now. We don’t have thousands of years of experience like we do with corn. We are fans of D1 because they brought jatropha into the mainstream. But we don’t want to go down the same road. We want realistic expectations, well-managed crops, and genetic improvement over time.”

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